Wild Facts

Well folks, it is Tuesday night and I am sitting here wallowing in defeat as I try to focus long enough to create a witty and interesting Wild Fact.  Before we get into the real reason we are here, I would like to congratulate both the Canadians and Americans for an incredible game and an excellent World Junior Tournament. It was a hard fought and well deserved win for the Americans.  A word of caution though, Canada will be back for Gold next year in Buffalo, so look out! Now I can’t wait for the Olympics!! Okay, enough of my rambling.  I was doing some research the other day about Polar Bears and I thought that I should make a post about these incredible animals that symbolize the north.

The polar bear shares the title of the largest land carnivore with the kodiak bear. On average a male polar bear will weigh between 350-680 kg (770-1500 pounds). So the next time some cheesy guy tries the old pick up line of “How much does a Polar Bear weigh?” you can actually answer him before he says “enough to break the ice”.  After you answer correctly, you can sit back and watch the flustered guy struggle to make conversation. The polar bear relies heavily on the marine system for food with seals being their prey of choice.  More importantly, the polar bear depends on the ice floes to hunt and survive.  As you can imagine, climate change is melting this ice and for that reason is the number one threat to the survival of the polar bear species.  Hopefully a solution can be found before it is too late, if it isn’t already too late!

As you would expect the polar bear has developed several adaptations that allows them to live in a very harsh northern environment.  Polar bears tend to have very large feet which provide the same service we discussed yesterday.  They act as snowshoes to try and keep the bear from breaking through the snow. As well, these large paws help distribute their weight while walking on thin ice and are excellent for propelling the bear while swimming. Similarly, these magnificent paws are covered with small bumps which provide traction control on ice. Finally, the claws of the polar bear are deeply scooped to help with digging through the ice. Who would have thought that feet can have so many important uses?

Okay, so the bear has impressive feet for walking and hunting but how do they manage to live in that cold air? I was outside at -37 degrees Celsius the other day and just about froze to death. Incredibly enough the polar bear is insulated by about 10 cm (3.9″) of blubber plus have their hide and two layers of fur.  In fact they are so well insulated that they will overheat if the temperature goes about 10 degrees Celsius. I was impressed to learn that polar bears are nearly invisible when looked at using infrared photography, which detects heat!  As mentioned, they have two layers of fur which serve two different purposes.  They have a thick underfur that keeps them nice and warm. They also have the outer layer of guard hairs which propels water and protects the insulating underfur. Maybe this is why I was cold at -37! I just needed a better insulating system!

Polar Bear Fast Fact: The white coat of the polar bear will turn to a yellowish colour as the bear ages.

Thanks for stopping by and reading today’s Wild Fact!  Enjoy the rest of your day!

Well folks, it is Tuesday night and I am sitting here wallowing in defeat as I try to focus long enough to create a witty and interesting Wild Fact.  Before we get into the real reason we are here, I would like to congratulate both the Canadians and Americans for an incredible game and an excellent World Junior Tournament. It was a hard fought and well deserved win for the Americans.  A word of caution though, Canada will be back for Gold next year in Buffalo, so look out! Now I can’t wait for the Olympics!! Okay, enough of my rambling.  I was doing some research the other day about Polar Bears and I thought that I should make a post about these incredible animals that symbolize the north.

The polar bear shares the title of the largest land carnivore with the kodiak bear. On average a male polar bear will weigh between 350-680 kg (770-1500 pounds). So the next time some cheesy guy tries the old pick up line of “How much does a Polar Bear weigh?” you can actually answer him before he says “enough to break the ice”.  After you answer correctly, you can sit back and watch the flustered guy struggle to make conversation. The polar bear relies heavily on the marine system for food with seals being their prey of choice.  More importantly, the polar bear depends on the ice floes to hunt and survive.  As you can imagine, climate change is melting this ice and for that reason is the number one threat to the survival of the polar bear species.  Hopefully a solution can be found before it is too late, if it isn’t already too late!

As you would expect the polar bear has developed several adaptations that allows them to live in a very harsh northern environment.  Polar bears tend to have very large feet which provide the same service we discussed yesterday.  They act as snowshoes to try and keep the bear from breaking through the snow. As well, these large paws help distribute their weight while walking on thin ice and are excellent for propelling the bear while swimming. Similarly, these magnificent paws are covered with small bumps which provide traction control on ice. Finally, the claws of the polar bear are deeply scooped to help with digging through the ice. Who would have thought that feet can have so many important uses?

Okay, so the bear has impressive feet for walking and hunting but how do they manage to live in that cold air? I was outside at -37 degrees Celsius the other day and just about froze to death. Incredibly enough the polar bear is insulated by about 10 cm (3.9″) of blubber plus have their hide and two layers of fur.  In fact they are so well insulated that they will overheat if the temperature goes about 10 degrees Celsius. I was impressed to learn that polar bears are nearly invisible when looked at using infrared photography, which detects heat!  As mentioned, they have two layers of fur which serve two different purposes.  They have a thick underfur that keeps them nice and warm. They also have the outer layer of guard hairs which propels water and protects the insulating underfur. Maybe this is why I was cold at -37! I just needed a better insulating system!

Polar Bear Fast Fact: The white coat of the polar bear will turn to a yellowish colour as the bear ages.

Thanks for stopping by and reading today’s Wild Fact!  Enjoy the rest of your day!

When I say WWF, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Was it Hulk Hogan? Well, I was going for a panda bear which we all know is the symbol of the World Wildlife Federation.  Don’t get me wrong I liked wrestling back when I was a kid but we can’t keep thinking about it and besides their acronymn is now WWE!

So now that I managed to find some obscure way of letting you know that today’s fact has to do with the giant panda bear, let’s get on with the fun stuff.  Of course, giant panda bears are a large black and white bear with a round face that can be found in the mountains of central China or in zoos around the world.  Did you know that two of the characteristics I mentioned above has to do with the diet of the giant panda bear? First what is the diet of the panda bear? Well, the giant panda loves to eat bamboo.  That’s right about 99% of this bears diet are bamboo plants.  Does anyone know anything about the nutritional value of bamboo?  Really?  Why would you know anything about bamboo’s nutrional information.  I will tell you that there is not a whole lot of goodness coming from eating bamboo.  Due to the lack of nutrients in bamboo the giant panda has to eat a lot more of it.  Are you ready for this? The giant panda bear will consume about 28 pounds of bamboo per day!  This is why the panda will feed for about 12 hours out of every day.  So how does this food dictate some of the unique characteristics of the giant panda bear.  Well, they have a slower metabolism and lead a fairly sedentary lifestyle which makes them large. This lifestyle allows the panda bears to be able to survive on a poor diet.  Similarly, the panda has a round face due to the large, strong jaw muscles that attach the skull to the mouth.  As well, they have large molars capable of grinding their food.  Of course these eating traits are a result of feeding on a tough bamboo plant.

Another interesting feature of the giant panda is their thumb.  Well, technically, it is just an extension of their wrist bone but it acts like a thumb.  This comes in handy when they are busy plucking off 28 pounds of bamboo every day.  As well, this wrist extension helps the bear hitchike back up the moutain during the summer months.

These sure seem like fascinating bears don’t they?  It is unfortunate that there are roughly only 1000 giant panda bears remaining in the wild.  They are an endangered species as a result of habitat loss and a low reproductive rate. Some scientists believe that giant panda bears are unsavable due to the fact they live in a extremely populated country and feed on such a specific food.  If you don’t care about these scientists and would still like to try to and help the panda population then keep reading. The World Wildlife Federation has set up something called “Gifts for a Living Planet”.  You can make a donation to help preserve habitat for the giant panda here.  Just so you know, I am not encouraging my readers to donate to WWF and I am simply letting you know some of your options.

Well that was today’s fact!  I hope you have a good one!